JUST WONT RUN

84 BUICK LESABRE LIMITED, FRESH 307 V8 TAKEN FROM AN 89 BUICK STATION
WAGON. TURNS OVER UNTIL THERE IS NO TOMORROW, BUT FOR SOME REASON WONT

START MOST OF THE TIME, AND WHEN IT DOES START, RUNS VERY SHITTY. THIS
CAR HAS BEEN TO 8 DIFFERENT MECHANICS BUT NOT A ONE OF THEM CAN TELL ME
WHATS WRONG WITH IT. IVE BEEN TOLD THAT IT 'MIGHT BE' THAT THE CARB AND
DISTRIBUTOR ARENT COMPATABLE WITH THE CARS COMPUTER. OR ALSO COULD BE
THAT IT MAY HAVE JUMPED A TOOTH ON THE TIMING CHAIN. IM PRETTY
ILLITERATE WHEN IT COMES TO THESE THINGS SO I REALLY NEED SOME HELP OR
ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THIS CAR AND THIS ENGINE. I HAVE SO MUCH
MONEY TIED UP IN THIS CAR AND FOR 3 YEARS NOW SINCE I BOUGHT IT, IVE
ONLY GOT TO DRIVE IT ONCE. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!
-Desperate to Drive

First of all was the engine the same size as the one you pulled out? If it
was do you have the old distributor and carburetor that was in the car? I
would put them back on this motor. As far as timing goes: roll the engine
over and when the exhaust valve is open on #1 cylinder as the timing mark on
the dampener pulley gets to the top the exhaust valve should close and
intake should open at that exact time. If they don't the timing may have
jumped a tooth, by the way if you don't know you can tell which is exhaust
and which is intake by looking where the valve is lined up to. If it is
lined up with the intake runner it is an intake valve.

the carb and distributor from the old motor were already gone when i
bought the car. If this would be the problem(carb & distrib.) , how
hard and or expensive would it be to get and install a new computer and
wiring harness?? As i recall i seem to remember someone saying that
could get very expensive

Sometimes it's even hard to switch engines in the same model year due
to pin changes in the harness. The mismatch of parts is probably why
the mechanics are flumuxed in their efforts to straighten it out. With
the engine connected to the proper diagnostics someone could see what
is wrong, but that would not fix it.
If you were just driving this on a track or something where EPA
regulations did not govern, you might be able to remove the electronic
carb and distributor and go with something from an older era somewhat
successfully. Parts are not cheap and I don't read into your post that
you are up to that project at this time. So don't throw good money
after bad.

"Midget Tosser" wrote:
> 84 BUICK LESABRE LIMITED, FRESH 307 V8 TAKEN FROM AN 89 BUICK
> STATION
> WAGON. TURNS OVER UNTIL THERE IS NO TOMORROW, BUT FOR SOME
> REASON WONT
> START MOST OF THE TIME, AND WHEN IT DOES START, RUNS VERY
> SHITTY. THIS
> CAR HAS BEEN TO 8 DIFFERENT MECHANICS BUT NOT A ONE OF THEM
> CAN TELL ME
> WHATS WRONG WITH IT. IVE BEEN TOLD THAT IT 'MIGHT BE' THAT
> THE CARB AND
> DISTRIBUTOR ARENT COMPATABLE WITH THE CARS COMPUTER. OR ALSO
> COULD BE
> THAT IT MAY HAVE JUMPED A TOOTH ON THE TIMING CHAIN. IM
> PRETTY
> ILLITERATE WHEN IT COMES TO THESE THINGS SO I REALLY NEED SOME
> HELP OR
> ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THIS CAR AND THIS ENGINE. I HAVE
> SO MUCH
> MONEY TIED UP IN THIS CAR AND FOR 3 YEARS NOW SINCE I BOUGHT
> IT, IVE
> ONLY GOT TO DRIVE IT ONCE. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!
> -Desperate to Drive
Hi, What carb and dist are you useing? in 84 the cars would run
without the computer pluged in to the dist,it mostly controled
timeing, so if your car wont run look into timeing bring it up on #1
and see where the rotor is pointing should be aimed at no1 plug tower
on the cap if not either chain is jumped or your off a tooth on the
dist. good luck Slimone

Ah. This describes the behavior and symptoms my 87 Buick had,
though with a V6.
My MAF/airflow sensor was shot. Idled somewhat okay, but zero power.
My EGR valve was shot as well(both gone at the same time is
a nearly undriveable car.)
But the turns over and won't start - that's timing. My
guess is that your timing sensors are shot in the 89's engine,
which *does* have known issues with timing sensors, gear, and
such(as well as the electrical system - the electronics that control
it go bad quite often as well)
In my case, it was the infamous synthetic timing cog teeth.
Two teeth and a bunch of nubs. Of course it didn't run in
that condition. Replaced with metal and bearings. The top
end is as noisy as the lifters, now, but it runs and can't
be killed.
Now, mine is a 1987 3800V6, but I can't imagine them not
applying such stupid changes to their V8s by 1989. I'd
check the timing sensors and gear first.
I took my car to 4 mechanics - one was "it's dead" - then I finally
got it started and his mouth dropped open. Lol. "See, it does
start - the compression is fine". I drove by this moron's place a
while ago and pointed out that it didn't need a new engine - as
he could see. I fixed the MAF, the EGR, and the timing, and the
car should last until 300K miles at this rate.
I took it to the GM garage and it took them 1 hour to diagnose it
with their computers. Any other choice on where to have it looked
at will result in scratched heads as they don't have parts in
stock like a major dealer that's been around for 20+ years(find
an older repiar department) to swap in and the computers to
diagnose it.

I have a '63 Corvair that would not run well. After much trouble shooting I
replaced the ballast resistor (don't know if your car has one) and it ran
much better. It would falter under full throttle. I replaced the plug wires
and it runs perfectly.
First, verify that plug routing is correct. I assume that you have checked
the plugs.

snip > -Desperate to Drive
Did the old engine run ? If so, try the distributor / carb from
the 84 engine. Locate # 1 plug wire, mark its location on distributor
body, turn engine by hand until timing mark points to TDC [ top dead
center ] now see if rotor points to mark, if way off, turn engine
exactly one turn, check to see if rotor points to mark. The cam turns
at 1/2 engine reveloution. [ takes 2 turns of crank, to equal 1 turn of
cam ] The distributor is powered by cam " a tooth off " means the
distributor rotor points at terminal before / after # 1 Assuming
ignition is OK, and correctly timed, engine needs air / fuel to run
A choke that won't open will starve engine for air, no fuel flow
means no gas is entering carb. With timing correct, pour about 1 oz. of
gas into carb, replace air cleaner, and crank, if engine runs, than dies
out you've got a fuel problem. [ Fuel pump ? bad carb ? ] If engine
still doesn't start, timing chain could be faulty. Take off a valve
cover, crank engine, see if rocker arms move. Some bozo could have
replaced the timing chain, and screwed up cam timing, but that's
unlikely. As for chain slipping, bring engine to TDC, check rockers
on # 1 cyl as you crank engine by hand. No action, turn 1 turn, try
again, still no action = bad timing chain.
When I say, turn over by hand, put a socket on crank bolt, turn with
breaker bar, still no luck .... Post again, I admire your patience,
and am sure you'll have an answer.

Log in

Motorsforum.com is a website by car enthusiasts for car enthusiasts. It is not affiliated with any of the car or spare part manufacturers or car dealers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.